Essence Devouring Art

「Southern Border Front.」

「Puyang Prefecture.」

「Southern Governor’s Mansion.」

”How dare he! How could he dare!”

Luo Ding Army gnashed his teeth, frantically trying to use the Communication Jade Talisman to contact the Great Divine Power Users of the Three Prefectures. He wanted them to rush to the garrison city Wu Dao was attacking and put him down.

After all, they had already dropped all pretenses.

There was no longer any need to care about some bullshit rule against the strong preying on the weak.

But before he could send the message,

those Great Divine Power Users sent him urgent messages, even faster than he could act:

”Governor Luo, this is an emergency! A key location in Jiuchuan Prefecture is under attack by a Great Divine Power User from the Nanyang King Group! The main assailant is Jiang Yuansheng, wielder of the Star Battle Divine Fist.”

”Yu Yuan Prefecture is under attack! Zige Mountain’s Supreme Ancestor, Ning Wuhen, is leading the charge! All our Great Divine Power Users at the Fourth Transformation and above have been engaged...”

BZZZT BZZZT BZZZT—

The Communication Jade Talisman vibrated wildly.

Dozens of garrison cities in Yu Yuan and Jiuchuan Prefectures reported attacks at the same time. Without exception, all the attackers were Divine Ability Users from the Nanyang King Group.

BZZZZ—

Another message vibrated through.

Jiang Changsheng’s grave voice rang out from the Communication Jade Talisman:

”Governor Luo, Changsheng County City, where I am stationed, is also under attack. The main assailants are the current Martial King of Martial King Mountain, Qiu Tianjing, and Wu Central.”

’Isn’t Qiu Tianjing in the rear...?’

BZZZT—

Before Luo Ding Army could even register his surprise,

Yan Feihong’s grim, cold voice cut in:

”Governor Luo, be careful. An old rival of mine has appeared here at Bailu City. Someone must be making a move on Yu Yang Prefecture City as well. It’s almost certainly...”

BOOM—

The sound of the sky collapsing interrupted the message.

The roar of a rolling thunderclap raged in all directions.

It was as if a Divine Being from the Nine Heavens had descended to the mortal realm, taking a single step. Countless rivers trembled, and every living creature was seized by an overwhelming urge to kneel and kowtow, filled with utter terror.

Luo Ding Army snapped his head up.

He saw a streak of golden divine light rise from far beyond Puyang Prefecture City. It grew incandescent with blinding speed—magnificent, majestic, and boundless. It seemed to suppress and sweep away all the world’s evil, forging a domain of perfect peace.

Within that endlessly incandescent divine light,

A magnificent figure in blue robes, tall enough to prop up the heavens and seemingly capable of shouldering the sun and moon, was cloaked in brilliant divine glory as he slowly lifted his foot.

Without a single tremor in the world, he crossed a vast distance in a single stride.

The moment his foot landed,

Majestic mountain ranges became mere gravel beneath his foot. He crushed the clouds in all directions and blotted out countless snowflakes. His shadow fell over nearly a thousand miles of land, engulfing Puyang Prefecture City.

Prince Nanyang, Zhou Chen!

An endless, majestic, and heavy aura pressed down on him.

Luo Ding Army’s very flesh and bone trembled. He stared, eyes wide with fury, at the colossal foot that blotted out the sun as it descended!

He never expected

Prince Nanyang to act personally!

And his first move showcased the peerless power of the number one expert on the Southern Border’s martial rankings, threatening to crush a thousand miles of land with a single stomp!

’What is he trying to do?’

’Settle the world in a single battle?’

’Who does he think he is!’

’Does he think that Wu Dao alone gives him the confidence for this?’

’Does he really think the Southern Alliance is a pushover!’

”Zhou Chen, you whelp! Don’t you dare be so audacious!”

BOOM!

Just as Prince Nanyang manifested as a Divine Being, his sky-blotting foot covering a thousand miles of land and about to descend, a tyrannical cold snort suddenly erupted from within Puyang Prefecture, its rumble shaking the Nine Heavens.

High in the sky,

A fierce-looking old man appeared without warning. He had a magnificent build, flowing white hair, and was clad in resplendent golden armor.

The golden-armored elder possessed a boundless aura. His bulging muscles radiated a brilliant holy light, giving off an ancient, savage air, as if an Ancient Holy Elephant was hidden within his body.

RUMBLE—

The moment he clenched his fist and struck the heavens,

Boundless, Supreme Yang Qi Blood erupted from him. It was so majestic and vast that it coalesced into fourteen golden Divine Suns, illuminating a thousand miles of the world.

Beneath the fourteen golden Divine Suns,

”BRRRRAAAAA—”

The silhouette of a Golden Holy Elephant materialized, as tall as the heavens themselves. Its four legs were like Celestial Pillars, and with a swing of its trunk, it unleashed infinite Divine Power, directly knocking aside Prince Nanyang’s descending foot.

’The Ancestor of Holy Elephant Mountain...’

A thousand miles away,

Prince Nanyang, dressed in blue robes, stood with his hands clasped behind him at the very source of that magnificent, world-peace-heralding torrent of light, looking like a savior-god descended to the mortal world.

His gaze, as deep as a sea of stars, was fixed on the golden-armored elder in the skies above Puyang Prefecture City. His expression remained serene, without a ripple of surprise, as if he had anticipated this all along.

The Central Plains dared to fight four territories at once.

They naturally had the reserves to do so; a peerless Great Divine Power User of the Dao Embryo Nine Transformations Level was stationed in each territory.

Their purpose was precisely to guard against the Rebel Kings of the four territories.

As for the background of this golden-armored elder of peerless strength,

Prince Nanyang had long been aware of it.

He was the ancestor of Holy Elephant Mountain—the Holy Land of the Central Plains’ Transverse Refining Dao and the second Celestial Pillar of the Martial Dao.

Jun Tianxing!

The man’s fame dated back to a thousand years before the Ninth Tribulation.

His Martial Dao talent was merely that of a genius.

But in the Transverse Refining Dao of the physical body, his talent was truly unparalleled.

A thousand years ago,

when the founder of Martial King Mountain reached the limit of the Horizontal Refining Ninth Gate and his might overshadowed his entire generation,

the Saint Elephant Ancestor, then in his youth, was hailed as the successor to Martial King Mountain’s founder, all due to his astounding talent for physical cultivation.

Unfortunately...

After the Ninth Tribulation,

The world became even more barren, and the cultivation environment for the three Main Paths grew increasingly difficult.

Like a gold-swallowing behemoth,

The Transverse Refining Dao, which required a mountain of resources for every single step, became nearly impossible to advance in.

Even with Jun Tianxing’s unparalleled talent,

it took him nearly a thousand years of bitter struggle, exhausting his potential to break through his shackles one by one, before he could step into the same realm as the founder of Martial King Mountain.

The Horizontal Refining Ninth Gate—

The Eighteen Extreme Yang Heavens!

The physical body in this realm is terrifyingly powerful.

Merely reaching the Great Success stage was enough to clash with a Great Divine Power User of the Dao Embryo Nine Transformations!

If one reached the Limit,

Then, like the founder of Martial King Mountain in his time, one would be unrivaled within the Nine Transformations Domain.

’Fourteen Divine Suns...’

’He’s approaching the perfected Limit stage.’

Prince Nanyang gazed at the fourteen great golden suns of qi and blood that lit up the world. With his hands behind his back, he smiled faintly. ”How about we fight in the Uninhabited Domain?”

Great Success in the Horizontal Refining Ninth Gate.

It was indeed very powerful.

But he, Zhou Chen, was not one bit inferior.

There was not a shred of fear in his heart.

As his voice fell,

The world-spanning golden light of his magnificent, peaceful domain converged.

Prince Nanyang took a step forward

And disappeared at the edge of the world.

He was not afraid that Jun Tianxing would not accept the challenge.

Because he had to accept it.

Unless he wanted to destroy all of Puyang Prefecture.

”Hah, as if I’m afraid of you!”

Jun Tianxing snorted, sent a message to Luo Ding Army ordering him to defend the Three Prefectures to the death until his return, and then took a step, likewise vanishing over the horizon.

A clash at the Dao Embryo Nine Transformations level

Could shatter a thousand miles of land in an instant.

If they didn’t fight in the outer Uninhabited Domain, the catastrophic destruction caused by their battle would be unimaginable.

In fact,

it wasn’t just for the Dao Embryo Nine Transformations,

any clash between Great Divine Power Users was never held in the mortal world. They almost always fought in the outer domains.

Because the destructive power wielded by Extraordinaries of this realm

was simply too terrifying.

Unless one was a madman devoid of all humanity,

Otherwise, no one could bear the consequences.

”Luo Ding Army, come out and meet your death!!”

”Guchang, is your blade still sharp?”

No sooner had Prince Nanyang and Jun Tianxing left,

Than two more elders, shrouded in divine light, appeared in the distance. One had an ethereal, immortal air; the other exuded an overwhelming, warlike ferocity. Their combined presence shook the landscape for hundreds of miles.

Clearly,

These two were also top-tier experts from the Great Divine Power Domain within Prince Nanyang’s faction.

’Great True Monarch Purple Sun, and the Sea Splitting God Blade King... Damn it!’

In the Governor’s Mansion,

Luo Ding Army stared at the two distant figures in the sky and instantly recognized them. Though he had expected their arrival, his expression turned exceedingly grim.

Great True Monarch Purple Sun.

Was a reclusive Loose Cultivator of the Southern Border’s Immortal Dao.

Divine Power Six Transformations.

Peerless in both Arrays and Talismans.

His combat power against those of the same realm was terrifying.

The Sea Splitting God Blade King was no less formidable.

A genius from Zige Mountain who had made a name for himself seven hundred years ago during the Warring States period.

Currently at Divine Power Six Transformations and with his blade momentum at the Fifth Transformation, even a Great Divine Power User of the Seven Transformations Level would have to treat him with caution.

Two Divine Ability Users at the peak of the Sixth Transformation in combat power!

No more, no less.

Just enough to counter the top-tier power of Puyang Prefecture.

Evidently,

It wasn’t just the Central Plains that had accurately calculated the Southern Border’s hidden strength; Prince Nanyang’s side was also perfectly clear about the defensive forces the Central Plains had deployed in the Three Prefectures.

”Governor Luo, this battle cannot be avoided.”

While Luo Ding Army’s expression was grim, a man in black carrying a saber on his back appeared in the sky above Puyang Prefecture City. His gaze was ancient and weary as he sighed and sent a voice transmission.

Haaaah—

Luo Ding Army took a deep breath. With a thought, a suit of brilliant armor and a majestic, blood-colored great halberd flew out from his mansion.

”You want a fight? Then let’s fight!”

With a cold snort,

Luo Ding Army and the black-robed swordsman also took to the sky, vanishing over the horizon to face the two Great Divine Power Users from Prince Nanyang’s faction.

The situation had reached this point.

There was no difference between avoiding the battle and accepting it.

Even if they avoided the battle,

The Divine Ability Users of Prince Nanyang’s faction could still pin them down where they were, unable to move or support other areas.

If they wanted to provide support,

They had to fight and win!

At the same moment,

Not just in Puyang Prefecture City,

In Yu Yuan Prefecture and Jiuchuan Prefecture,

The top-tier Divine Ability Users deployed by the Royalist Faction were all challenged by Divine Ability Users of the same level from Prince Nanyang’s faction.

In an instant,

All of Da Li’s Divine Ability Users at the Fourth Transformation and above in the Land of Three Mansions were tied down!

On the battlefield,

The situation instantly became a contest for those below the Dao Embryo Four Transformations.

This was a huge matter.

The Central Plains Imperial Court had long been alerted.

However,

the Central Plains’ forces were already stretched to their limit just to counterbalance the four territories, so available reinforcements were severely limited.

No matter where they pulled top-tier forces from for support, it would be like robbing Peter to pay Paul, drinking poison to quench thirst, and would result in even greater losses.

They could only issue a do-or-die order.

Before reinforcements arrived,

No matter what,

They had to defend the three Southern Border prefectures to the death.

If the Land of Three Mansions fell,

It would mean an irreparable breach would open up on the Southern Border, and the impact would ripple across all front lines.

It was highly likely that,

To close the breach, the Central Plains would have to completely pull back its forces from the four major war zones, shrink its lines, and defend to the death the few remaining prefectures.

At that time...

They would truly become fish in a barrel!

「Central Plains, Wandeng Prefecture.」

Within the Imperial City, where the world’s fortune had gathered for seven hundred years.

Inside Wenyuan Building.

The current Emperor of Da Li, Zhou Heng, was in casual, bright yellow robes. His features somewhat resembled Prince Nanyang’s, but his aura was far more scholarly and transcendent.

He didn’t look like a king who ruled the four seas.

Instead, he resembled a Great Scholar, one who was widely read and held the wisdom of countless teachings within him.

RUSTLE~

The scripture in his hand turned a page.

Despite the dire situation on the front lines, Zhou Heng remained utterly placid, his mind immersed in a sea of scriptures.

”Your Majesty...”

The Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Sun Shisong, was in attendance nearby. The incessantly vibrating Communication Jade Talisman at his waist lent an urgent air to his aged features. Kneeling, he reported:

”All Divine Ability Users of the Fourth Transformation and above in the Land of Three Mansions have been engaged in battle and cannot withdraw. That Wu Dao has also entered the Divine Power Domain, and with his ruthless, unpredictable methods...

Prince Nanyang’s intentions are self-evident.

I implore Your Majesty to make a decision soon.”

Haaaah—

He turned the final page of the scripture.

The shadow of a scripture faintly manifested in Zhou Heng’s eyes before flashing and disappearing. He said calmly:

”One man to sweep through the Three Prefectures... such audacity. Relay Our orders to the Chaotic Clothing Guard. We are curious to see just where this madman gets his nerve.”

Although Da Li had sent all its top-tier Divine Ability Users to the four territories to counterbalance the various kings, its reserves below the level of Great Divine Power User far surpassed those of the kings.

The Chaotic Clothing Guard Zhou Heng spoke of,

Was an intelligence organization created by the Great Li Ancestor to monitor the world. At the same time, like the Jingzhe Bureau, it was also one of the Emperor’s Imperial Guard.

Aside from the current Celestial Emperor,

No one else could mobilize them.

The Chaotic Clothing Guard was different from the Jingzhe Bureau.

The members of this organization were hidden in every trade and every corner of the land, monitoring the world. Some wore rags, some plain cloth, and some fine silks—hence the name, Chaotic Clothing Guard.

After seven hundred years of development,

The current Chaotic Clothing Guard was powerful enough to rival a Holy Land. Only the Celestial Emperor, Zhou Heng, knew how many Divine Ability Users were in its ranks.

Haaaah—

After Sun Shisong withdrew,

Zhou Heng let out a light breath, reached out his hand, and another book, Divine Wilderness Miscellaneous Records, fell into his grasp. He began to read it carefully, page by page.

Normally,

For someone of his level, no matter the mortal book, he could know and read its entire contents with a single thought.

But strangely,

He still savored it meticulously, page by page, line by line. And with every passing moment, he seemed to gain some new insight, thoroughly enjoying the process.

RUSTLE~

Another page was turned.

Myriad scriptures surged in Zhou Heng’s eyes, interweaving to construct a Scripture Pavilion of unknown height. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly:

”Zhi Gui, Life Hell, Army-Shatterer, Treasure Basin... Heh. You all wish to overcome the tribulation. Do you think We feel any different? It all comes down to who is more skilled.”

...